Process of making fish-glue



- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM LE PAGE, 'OF GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

PROCESS OF MAKlNG'FlSH-GLUE.

SPECIFICATIQN'forming part of Letters Patent No. 351,607, dated October 26, 1886.

Application filed September U, 1886.

Serial No. 213,331. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM N. LE PAGE, of Gloucester, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new, useful, and Improved Process of Making Liquid Fish- Glue, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention isto provide an improved article of liquid glue by means of a new method or process of treating fish skins and scales, whereby a stronger, clearer, and better-preserved article is obtained in less time and with lesslabor and expense than has hitherto bee'n required.

By my peculiar treatment the salted fishskins, with the scales upon them, are desalted, cleaned, and bleached by agitating them in a strong solution of bisulphite of soda, then treating them in a solution of s'al-soda to remove all traces of salt, which has been the great obstacle to complete success heretofore, then boiling them in water strongly impreg mated with hora-x, after which theglueis drawn off or expressed, then filtered and the surplus water evaporated, as hereinafter stated. By my process of treating the skins and scales together I secure a material advantage in retaining in the glue all the useful properties of the scales, which render the glue more insoluble and stronger than is the case when the skins are first descaled; In desaltiug, cleaning, and bleaching I agitate the stock in capaciou's and powerful washing-machines, so that allportions are uniformlyand sufficiently acted upon.

In the boiling I add to every twenty gallons of water a pound or more of pulverized borax, in order to secure its valuable deodorizing and antiseptic qualities, as well as for rendering the glue more adhesive. I accomplish a most thorough incorporation of the borax with the other elements of the glueby having them intermixed during the boiling operation, which insures against taint or souring during the manufacture and subsequently. The boiling is continued until the stock is thoroughly softened and dissolved, after which it is filtered through clean sand, which permits the clear glueto percolate through it, leaving. all impurities behind. The residuum is subsequently subjected to very great pressureto express all the desirable qualities] from {both the scales and the skins. I then evaporate the glue or extract the surplus water from it by passing itthrough a vacuum-coil subjected externally,

by preference, to steam heat at a moderate temperature, whereby the liquid is only exposed to the heat for a few minutes, as compared with several hours time and higher heat formerly required without the vacuum.

The saving of time due to this vacuum treatment is important, because of facilitating the manufacture and giving the product a better.

color, while avoidance of high heat renders the glue more tenacious. The vacuum treatment for evaporating I find to be equally valuable in cases where I descale the skins before proceeding with the other steps herein described.

I claim as my invention- 1. The described process of making liquid fish'glue, consisting in first desalting the skins with the scales thereon by chemical treatment in asolution of bisulphite of soda, subsequently treating them in a solution of sal-soda to remove all traces of salt, then boiling in a solution of borax for softening, deodorizing, and preserving purposes, then extracting and filteringthe glue and evaporating it to suitable consistence, substautiall y as set forth.

. 2. The described improvement in the method,

\VM. N. LE PAGE.

Witnesses:

A. H. SPENCER, J. G. KENNEDY. 

